Requiescat In Pace Dear Al Leake

Al Leake

From: STEVE JENIK <COLFAM.2@ATT.NET>
To: jpsaleeby@aol.com
Sent: Sat, 26 Jan 2008 11:01 pm
Subject: Al Leake

Dear Dr.Saleeby,
My name is Steve Jenik. I and my wife Julie are friends, neighbors and caretakers
for Al and Myr Leake. It is with great regret that I must inform you that Al has crossed
the final finish line in his race against cancer. He passed away, quietly, at home,
amidst family and friends on Jan., 25, 2008 @ approx 2:45 P.M.
I am being presumptious by issuing this notice, as I have no formal family approval
to do so. Yet, after searching the web and finding many references to Al, not
only his racing prowess, but his restoration work and finding your name, I hope that
this takes some burden off of Myr. I presume that you know how to contact the family.
I found the picture of your son with the pinewood derby racer. That choked me up.
I printed it out, but, my printer is not the best quality beast in the world.
Nonetheless, I intend to pass it on to Myr.

Our regards sir,
Steve and Julie

Pax et Requiem Dear Al

Al and Myr at Watkins Glen 2005

Al penned this about Sophia (#69)

Al drives Sophia (this is the view most folks racing against him saw). Rubber Chicken in tow.
(Old racers never die they just drive off into the sunset)

Michael wins at Pinewood Derby

Michael wins at Pinewood Derby

Cub Scout's PineWood Derby Day

Michael holds up his Pinewood Derby car #69. It was named and numbered in honor of Al Leake (AlfaRomeoRestorations.com) who has been working on dad's GTAm for the past 2.5 years. Al was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer in October 2007 and is undergoing treatment as of this posting. The car was painted a florescent yellow with red top and sported a lego driver with helmet and a tail fin.

We used Al's race car number (69) and wrote PMA and Al Leake Racing Team all over the car. This year was not as kind to Michael... as he swept the speed trials in 2007 winning every heat and taking home the 1st place trophy and earning a spot to go to the state meet.

This year however in the preliminary heats he placed mostly 2nd and 1st... with no 3rd place finishes. He made it into the semi-finals as one of eight cars. The semis were all age groups and packs. He ran a good few races pulling mostly 3rds and a couple of 2nd place finishes. Over all... he took home the 2nd place medal for speed in his bear pack.


Mike in front on the cars "impounded" as they have been checked and weighed by the judges. His is the one on the far left.

Cars were so fast everything was a blurrrr... including this picture of Michael in the semi-finals loading his car on the pinewood derby track.

Next year promises to be awesome... more time and prep work will go into the structure, performance and appearance of the car.

Alfa Romeo GTAm Wikipedia and YouTube sites

The GTAm (1970–1971) could produce up to 240 PS (237 hp/177 kW) in the 2000 cc car—a car usually related to the GTA, but unlike the GTA derived from the GTV 1750, the 2000GTAm was created in 1968: There are two schools of thought about the "Am", neither one of them ever being confirmed by the factory: one says Allegerita Maggiorata, the other America. Most likely the latter is closest, since the car did not contain any aluminum parts and therefore not "Allegerita", and the base was a GTV 1750 with American injection system for homologation purposes for the American market. SPICA was the injection system brand. The 1750 cc was later bored to 1985 cc to meet the 2000 cc limitation of its class to the maximum. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfa_Romeo_GTA

Cool Videos on YouTube:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrBRNXXfzNY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CX1im9J1W3c

Especially the Victory By Design is stunning.

Wikipedia & YouTube sites

The GTAm (1970–1971) could produce up to 240 PS (237 hp/177 kW) in the 2000 cc car—a car usually related to the GTA, but unlike the GTA derived from the GTV 1750, the 2000GTAm was created in 1968: There are two schools of thought about the "Am", neither one of them ever being confirmed by the factory: one says Allegerita Maggiorata, the other America. Most likely the latter is closest, since the car did not contain any aluminum parts and therefore not "Allegerita", and the base was a GTV 1750 with American injection system for homologation purposes for the American market. SPICA was the injection system brand. The 1750 cc was later bored to 1985 cc to meet the 2000 cc limitation of its class to the maximum.

Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alfa_Romeo_GTA

And check out these crazy videos:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OrBRNXXfzNY

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CX1im9J1W3c